This volume investigates the evolving security architecture of the Pacific region as it approached the turn of the millennium. The text compiles proceedings from the 1987 Pacific Symposium, featuring contributions from military analysts, diplomats, and regional experts. It argues that shifting power dynamics and economic interdependence necessitated a reevaluation of traditional defense strategies in the Pacific theater.

Experts view this collection as a historical snapshot of Cold War-era strategic thinking in the Pacific. Researchers often utilize the text to understand the baseline assumptions that guided regional security policy prior to the 1990s.